Healthcare, Pharma & Life Sciences

United States – October 29, 2026 -- A three-doctor orthopedic practice with a 12% call abandonment rate loses more than $500,000 in revenue a year, while a three-doctor dermatology practice loses roughly $175,000, according to IntelePeer's analysis of healthcare phone access.

The figures exclude the lifetime value of patients who switch providers after a failed call, the company says.

29% of healthcare calls go unanswered, and 85% of held patients do not call back

Across healthcare, the average unanswered call rate is 29%, based on 2023 Accenture and Dental Intelligence data cited by IntelePeer. In dental practices the rate reaches 37%. When patients are put on hold, 60% hang up within a minute, and 85% of those do not call back.

Texas – October 29, 2026 -- 42 North Dental recovered more than $7 million in patient accounts receivable in seven months using IntelePeer's AI agents, including $1.8 million from balances older than 180 days, according to the vendor's customer data. The figures come as dental support organizations (DSOs) with 20 to 200 locations face no-show rates of 30% to 40% and a front-desk hiring shortage.

No-shows and unanswered calls drain production before patients reach the chair

IntelePeer identifies no-show rates of 30% to 40% for new-patient appointments as the leading driver of lost production in multi-site dental groups. It also reports that 85% of patients who cannot reach a practice do not call back and go to a competitor. Calls go unanswered at peak hours, during lunch and whenever front-desk staff turn over.

United States – October 29, 2026 -- U.S. medical debt exceeds $220 billion, patient collection rates sit at 48% and health systems lose one in three calls after hours, according to a new IntelePeer whitepaper. The vendor argues that healthcare AI adoption is stalling on seven misconceptions, not on technology limits.

IntelePeer says enterprise AI buying decisions will be made within 12 to 18 months

The company says category leaders in healthcare AI are forming now. In its view, the organizations pulling ahead are not better resourced, only better informed about the evidence behind each objection.

Whitepaper covers seven misconceptions, from safety trade-offs to staff resistance

Named topics are safety, workflow complexity, patient preference, sensitive-conversation handling, EHR and scheduling integration, and staff resistance. A seventh is left undisclosed. Each is paired with a documented deployment.

TAMPA – October 29, 2026 -- Akari Therapeutics (Nasdaq: AKTX) will present its PH1 antibody drug conjugate (ADC) payload at five oncology, ADC and investor conferences in the United States and China during September 2026, as it looks for pharma partners and investors ahead of a planned first-in-human trial by mid-2027.

CEO Abizer Gaslightwala will deliver a keynote and featured presentations. The company says it will discuss global R&D collaboration, platform partnerships and pipeline expansion.

Akari fills a September calendar across Boston, Shanghai, WuXi and New York

The schedule runs from September 9 to September 29:

TAMPA – October 29, 2026 -- Akari Therapeutics (Nasdaq: AKTX) has filed international patent application PCT/US2026/45955, adding claims on how its PH1 payload modulates alternative splicing across multiple cancer-driving genes.

The filing expands the company's intellectual property around PH1, a splicing-modulating payload derived from its proprietary Thailanstatin platform, and around PH1-based antibody drug conjugates (ADCs). Akari contrasts PH1 with conventional ADC payloads that rely on tubulin inhibition, such as vedotin, or DNA damage, such as topoisomerase I inhibitors.

Application claims PH1 shifts VEGF-A splicing to block tumor blood supply

The claims cover PH1 altering VEGF-A splicing in cancer cells. The shift moves from a pro-angiogenic isoform to the anti-angiogenic VEGF-165b isoform, which prevents blood vessel recruitment to tumors.

Tampa, FL and London – October 29, 2026 -- Akari Therapeutics (Nasdaq: AKTX) has appointed Vatnak Vat-Ho as Chief Business Officer, adding an executive who has held senior roles in oncology transactions totaling more than $25 billion in aggregate value.

Vat-Ho will run corporate strategy, partnering, licensing and investor engagement

Vat-Ho will lead corporate and business development at the oncology biotech, which is developing antibody drug conjugates (ADCs) built on a novel RNA splicing-disrupting payload called PH1. His remit covers corporate strategy, partnering and licensing, and investor engagement as the company advances its lead TROP2-targeted ADC, AKTX-101, toward the clinic.

He brings more than 20 years of experience across oncology business development, biopharmaceutical strategy, equity research and healthcare investing. His transaction record involves Pfizer, Exelixis, BioNTech, Merck KGaA, Roivant and Roche/Genentech.

United States – October 29, 2026 -- Influenza-associated hospitalizations reached 3.5 per 1,000 hospitalizations in the week beginning September 21, 2026, nearly three times the next-highest rate recorded at the same point in the prior six flu seasons, according to a Truveta Data analysis.

Hospitalization rate climbs more than 2.5 times faster than in any prior season

From the week beginning August 31 through the week beginning September 21, the rate rose by an average of 0.7 hospitalizations per 1,000 each week. The next-fastest increase over the comparable period was 0.3 per 1,000 per week, in 2022–23.

Across the six prior seasons, the median weekly change at this point was −0.03 per 1,000. Hospitalization rates were generally stable or declining at this stage of past seasons.

United States – October 29, 2026 -- High-dose loop diuretics combined with adjuvant therapy produced an adjusted average weight loss of 4.6 pounds in heart failure inpatients, the largest of any strategy, but also came with higher rates of acute kidney injury, according to a study in the Journal of Cardiac Failure.

Study tracks 109,000 heart failure patients across US health systems

Researchers used Truveta Data to identify more than 109,000 patients hospitalized for heart failure between 2015 and 2022. Patients were grouped by the most intensive diuretic strategy used within the first 48 hours, ranging from low-dose loop diuretics alone to high-dose loop diuretics combined with thiazides or acetazolamide.

The team measured weight loss, hemoconcentration, in-hospital acute kidney injury, and the combined outcome of readmission or death within 90 days.

United States – October 29, 2026 -- The rate of e-bike-related emergency department (ED) visits rose 760.2% between January–August 2023 and January–August 2026, while traditional bicycle visits increased only 7.9%, according to a Truveta Data analysis.

E-bike visits climbed from 1.2 to 10.1 per 100,000 people with an ED visit. The traditional bicycle rate moved from 59.4 to 64.1 per 100,000. Traditional bicycles still dominate in absolute volume: the study period recorded 63,811 traditional bicycle ED visits against 4,769 for e-bikes.

Pediatric e-bike ED visit rate rises 19.1-fold to 35.7 per 100,000

Patients aged 0–17 saw the steepest increase, from 1.9 to 35.7 per 100,000, against a 1.5-fold rise for traditional bicycles in the same group. E-bike rates also grew 7.7-fold among 18–24-year-olds, 7.4-fold among 25–44-year-olds, 7.6-fold among 45–64-year-olds and 3.2-fold among those 65 and older.

PITTSFIELD, Mass. – October 29, 2026 -- Nurses and healthcare professionals at Berkshire Visiting Nurse Association (BVNA) delivered a petition to management at 4 p.m. Monday, demanding a contract that retains experienced clinicians, after the bargaining unit shrank by approximately half over the past several years.

The Massachusetts Nurses Association (MNA) represents the clinicians. The two sides next meet for bargaining on October 28.

Management has moved on early-career wages, but veteran pay remains open

The union acknowledges progress on wages for nurses and healthcare professionals early in their careers, a step aimed at attracting new hires. Tamaryn Clowdus, a physical therapist and Co-Chair of the MNA Bargaining Committee at BVNA, said the unit also needs reasonable cost-of-living increases for clinicians who stayed through difficult years, calling for a focus on "both recruitment and retention."